Europe becoming arms powerhouse despite increased imports, says SIPRI

"Imports of major arms by European states more than tripled during 2021-25, when the Ukraine war has raged, compared with the previous five-year period of 2016-20, the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) said in its annual Arms Transfers report released on Monday. Almost half of those weapons—48 percent—came from the United States, suggesting that Europe is failing in a commonly shared ambition of becoming more weapons-autonomous."

"Ukrainian arms imports over the last five years made 43 percent of the overall increase in European imports, said Katarina Djokic, a leading SIPRI researcher. That figure measures only direct imports from the US to Ukraine, she said. It does not include imports made on Ukraine's behalf by other European states. So in reality, Ukraine's needs made up an even bigger proportion of Europe's imports."

"Taken together, the arms exports of the 27 current EU member states went up by 36 percent, said SIPRI's report. That is a faster growth rate than the US's 27 percent over the same period, and China's 11 percent. The European Union's combined arms exports accounted for 28 percent of total global arms exports in the past five years, nearly replacing its imports, which account for a third of the world's total."

European arms imports more than tripled between 2021-25 compared to 2016-20, with nearly half sourced from the United States. Ukraine accounted for 43 percent of this import increase, though the actual proportion is higher when including weapons imported by other European states on Ukraine's behalf. Despite rising imports, EU member states collectively increased arms exports by 36 percent, outpacing US growth at 27 percent and China's 11 percent. The EU now accounts for 28 percent of global arms exports, four times Russia's volume and five times China's. This growth reflects Europe's emerging role as a major arms manufacturer, though dependence on US imports suggests Europe has not yet achieved weapons autonomy.

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